In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook (FB) from his Harvard University dorm room, hoping to see what his classmates were up to on campus. The following eight years brought international fame, unimaginable wealth, a hit Hollywood movie, a disastrous initial public offering, a sagging stock price—and one unprecedented achievement. On Sept. 14, the company reached 1 billion active users.

It is amazing.

Mother Hydra

No, it is most certainly NOT amazing. I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the world to get a huge case of embarrassment for all the jackassery they’ve produced under the facebook brand, and for everyone to take their toys and go elsewhere. Like twitter, Facebook is becoming increasingly irrelevant, I’d argue it is irrelevant now as it has been overrun and co-opted by marketing agencies cramming it full of SEO bullshit.

There are many reasons to for people to create more than one account (Facebook games, real or fantasy infidelity, “like farming,” link spamming, etc). FB actively tries to shut them down, but it seems to be a loosing battle, particularly if you wander outside of your cozy circle of friends into some of the more “public” areas of the site. I wouldn’t be surprised if 50% or more of active users were secondary/fake accounts.

Which is not to say that what Facebook has built isn’t substantial, but that we should take their self-reported numbers with a few grains of salt.